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Behind Bars

Toy Soldiers

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

According to recent news accounts, shattered and shredded body parts and remains of U.S. servicemen were found in a landfill.1

Despite political spins, this sobering image is a telling, true-life metaphor for what those in power really think of soldiers, many of whom are but boys and girls freshly loosed from High School.

In recent years, politicians, especially when on TV or radio talk shows, are apt to say, when addressing a vet, “I thank you for your service.” In truth, this is robot-talk, kind of like when a parrot is trained to say, “Hello!” and about as meaningful.

The American poet, e.e. cummings2 once said, “A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat, except a man.”

John Africa said, “A politician will tell you he wasn’t born of a woman, if it’ll get you to vote for him.”

In these passing years, since 9/11, wars have been fought that have devastated countries, economies, and world peace. Untold thousands have died, many for nothing more, nor less, than American paranoia. Thousands of U.S. soldiers have died defending American lies.

And tens-of-thousands have returned, bodies, minds, souls shattered by political calculations driven by arrogance, greed and sheer stupidity. Thousands of marriages have ended in divorce because of forced years apart, and families have been broken asunder because some greasy politician wanted to play “War-President” (or Senator, or Representative.)

In a real sense, military body parts tossed into landfills as trash, is more than metaphor.

It is truth.

Prison Radio, December 17, 2011



1”Remains of U.S. troops dumped in landfill ‘greater than originally acknowledged’” [update] January 1, 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/8942146/Remains-of-US-troops-dumped-in-landfill-greater-than-originally-acknowledged.html

2Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings (in the style of some of his poems—see name and capitalization, below), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular.\ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings